Giorgone - Laura

• Title: Laura (Venere dormiente)
• Artist: Giorgone (c.1475-1510)
• Date: 1506
• Medium: Oil on canvas transferred from panel
• Dimensions: 41 × 34 cm

The portrait "Laura" depicts a young woman as a bride. It was commissioned by a man named Giacomo, whose name is inscribed on the back of the painting. The unknown woman in the painting is called Laura because of the laurel branches depicted in the background of the portrait.

The portrait shows a young dark-haired woman wearing a fur-trimmed red cloak. She holds the cloak slightly open, exposing her right breast. A thin white veil is wrapped over the woman's hair and falls over her right shoulder. Against the dark background of the portrait are branches of laurel leaves, framing the woman.

The subject of the painting looks away from the artist. Her calm, ambivalent yet intense gaze falls somewhere beyond the viewer, suggesting her interest lies elsewhere. Her hair is held back modestly, yet a single strand falls loose along her face, creating a sense of eroticism in the painting. The subject's enigmatic nature draws the viewer in, creating an uncertain view of her intentions and her identity.

Behind the young woman is a branch of laurel, a symbol of chastity or of poets, and carrying the nuptial veil. The gesture of opening the fur mantle uncovers the bosom. This may indicate fecundity as a promise of a marriage blessed with children. As the laurel symbolized virtue, so the visible breast could symbolize the bride's conjugal fidelity.